Plans to build 50 homes in a village have been rejected by Forest planners.

Forest of Dean District Council has turned down Hulls’ scheme to develop 8.9 acres of land west of Gloucester Road in Corse, writes Carmelo Garcia.

The developer said they wanted to create a new rural residential development which reflected the local character of the Chartist settlement and rural farmsteads.

The proposed properties were designed to be a mix of single storey homes, semi-detached and terraced houses.

And a total of 20 homes would have been affordable housing. The scheme also included more than four acres of public open space and communal landscaping.

Consultants working on the scheme said the new homes would contribute to meeting the local need for housing.

They also said it would reinforce the historic local Chartist character, would not harm the landscape, provide housing for elderly residents and offers opportunities for Passivhaus low-carbon living.

However, some 30 people objected to the proposals along with Corse Parish Council and Staunton Parish Council. Their concerns included the fact the proposed development would be outside the settlement boundary and the area suffers from flooding issues.

Council officers recommended rejecting the proposals which they considered to represent unsustainable development in the countryside due to both its location outside a settlement boundary and its scale.

The planning committee agreed and rejected the scheme at their meeting on April 12.